JC03 Spinning Rare Breeds Wools

with Deb Robson

You don’t need a lot of experience to enjoy this 2-day class in unusual wools—just a willingness to have adventures. Rare breed wools come in a variety of colors, textures, lengths, and descriptions. They can also be hard to obtain and spinners often don’t know how to begin working with them. Come get your hands on a selection and learn how to feel comfortable in the spinnerly wilds! We’ll start with a slide show overview, and then we’ll be working with fleece from up to 12 rare breeds of sheep listed by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy and the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. You should have plenty to experiment with in class and perhaps a bit extra to take home to play with.

Skill level: Ability to independently spin singles and make a two-ply yarn and ability to do Andean plying.

Participants bring: Spinning wheel or spindle; nostepinne, or ball winder, or extra bobbins and lazy kate; combs, carders, flicker or any other fiber-prep tools of choice; optional—small zipper-lock bags; scotch tape or hole punch; knitting needles or crochet hooks.

About the instructor: Deb Robson was for many years the editor of Spin-Off Magazine and coordinated the Save the Sheep project and Handspun Treasures from Rare Wools. Recent projects include Handspinning Rare Wools  (Interweave DVD, 2011), The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook: More than 200 Fibers from Animal to Spun Yarn (Storey Publishing, May 2011), and Know Your Wool  (free Craftsy online course, 2012). She has taught at Maryland Sheep and Wool 2012, Madrona 2012, SOAR 2011, Convergence 2012, and many other places in North America and the U.K.